There is another outrage that Congress and the Administration is about to inflict upon us. From Donald Marron, head of the CBO during the Bush years of 2002-2009, we read that the House is trying to redirect TARP money to another handout to their best friends forever, Wall Street. Specifically, they are trying to pass legislation that will provide enhanced dissolution authority for financial firms that run into severe trouble. That's just business as usual, as far as I can tell. But Professor Marron has noticed that the thieves on the hill are going to use the cover of a CBO analysis to justify this $10b raid on the treasury.

In order to pay for those costs, the bill would reduce TARP authority by $20.8 billion. Consistent with previous scoring decisions, CBO estimates that this provision would result in budget savings of $10.4 billion (because CBO assumes, for scoring purposes, that each dollar of reduced TARP authority translates into 50 cents of reduced outlays; for more explanation, see this earlier post.)

So, dear reader, understand that this is the first salvo in the war to raid the TARP piggybank for the Administration's pet projects. Most people's eyes glaze over when you talk about TARP. But recognize that if this bill passes, they will have laid the ground work for future raids on a program that was passed with a promise that all the money was all going to be paid back to the treasury. Not any more. This is the back door Obama will use to fund Stimulus v3.0. It's coming.

As I wrote yesterday, you are wasting your energy and a heck of an opportunity objecting to Obama using TARP funds to pay for (part of) Stimulus 3.0

People are worried about the economy and jobs and they're not going to care where the funding for round three comes from. Your piece just gives the Democrats ammunition to claim that Republicans are out of touch with regular folks, that you're more concerned with appearances than actually doing something to help.

Object on the basis that Round Three isn't going to work, that the same flawed thinking that came up with Round Two is going to ensure that Round Three fails just as well. Argue that Obama's idea of stimulus is to grow government and not the private sector (more people still do work in the private sector than in government) and that giving more money to government isn't going to create a single real long-lasting job in the private sector.

As Allen Iverson might have put it "technicality? technicality? People are out of work and you're talking technicality?"

A follow up: you might note the distinction between TARP money and 'stimulus' money, but to most people, money is money and government spending is government spending. to them, the entire chunk was money to be spent on fixing the economy.... and now you're arguing that some of the money that was supposed to fix the economy shouldn't be used to fix the economy? Inside Washington thinking. Tone deaf.

And yes, you're technically right about the TARP money. but did you really think it was going to be repaid and not used for whatever Obama wanted to use it for?

s strum "and now you're arguing that some of the money that was supposed to fix the economy shouldn't be used to fix the economy? Inside Washington thinking. Tone deaf."

Nive try, but you failed.

The arugment, such as it is, is that the TARP money was specifically allocated to the banks and if and when it was returned be placed into the Treasury and used to pay down the public debt that is at historic levels.

[with NO sign anyone at any level of Gov. cares gives a shit about it]

Puzzle me this s strum... The Congress is the one and only Gov. body authorized to allocate and spend tax receipts.

Congress has legally mandated where and how TARP money is to be used.

What legal authority does obama have to spend the money on anything not authorized by Congress?

Puzzle me this s strum... The Congress is the one and only Gov. body authorized to allocate and spend tax receipts.

Congress has legally mandated where and how TARP money is to be used.

What legal authority does obama have to spend the money on anything not authorized by Congress?

From the article above (emphasis added for the downright stupid):

From Donald Marron, head of the CBO during the Bush years of 2002-2009, we read that the House is trying to redirect TARP money to another handout to their best friends forever, Wall Street. Specifically, they are trying to pass legislation...

You said only Congress has the authority... and indeed it sounds like the house is working on legislation... You know, that's what Congress does, work on legislation.

Marc, are you a moron?

Or are you just an obsessed jackass who blames everything on Obama? An Obamaphobe?